Marketing data is a currency that’s getting stronger year-on-year. Thanks to data’s prolific use, marketing has become more of a science than an art. And the more businesses use data to shape and create ever more targeted and relevant campaigns, the more they need to use it – or fall behind the competition.
Data might be pivotal to the success of your next campaign, but that doesn’t mean you need to invest in a new database every time you roll out a new campaign. Data enrichment can turn a defunct database into an insight yielding trove of information – but only if you put an effective data enrichment project in place.
Your old data can be processed into a form that can deliver serious value to your next campaign
Data enrichment is like taking a tired old car, changing its parts, giving it a lick of paint and getting it back on the road. The only difference being, your marketing data can do a lot more for your brand than a flashy car with branding on it! Enriching data involves taking your current database and putting it through a defined process to turn it into a lead generating asset.
The process can be broken down into three stages:
- The extraction phase - data is extracted from your current database.
- The transformation phase - data is enriched and converted to a more useful state.
- The loading stage - data is ready to use after it’s transported to where it’s required.
Before data can be enriched, you need to clean up existing data
Before the extraction phase, it’s essential to take stock of the data already within your content management systems and any other data repository. Of what quality is the data? Is there inaccurate data that needs correcting? And what extra data do you need to convert it to information that will yield valuable insights for your marketing campaign? To answer these questions you need a clear idea of the goals and objectives of your campaign. Your data enrichment services partner will then cleanse existing data of duplicate information and inaccurate or invalid data. Meaning that the base data you begin with is easier to access and enrich.
A data enrichment services provider can help you source quality data from external sources
I mentioned in the previous paragraph that any data enrichment strategy is based on the insights you want to glean from the data and marketing objectives. These parameters will determine the exact type of data you enrich your current data repository with. Identify any missing fields in the data you currently have. A data enrichment services provider can then help you source quality data and add it to your database. Remember, that data is a living, breathing entity. You will need ongoing testing and checking to ensure it’s of a high enough quality to yield the insights you want from it.
If you’d like to find out more about how optimised data can vastly enhance the efficacy and reach of your marketing efforts and the role data enrichment plays in this, download our guide:
